Florida ged plus college Preparation Program Curriculum and Resource Guide
Objective 4 – Real-Life Mathematics
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- Strategy – Sample Lesson: Math in the Workplace
Objective 4 – Real-Life MathematicsUse mathematical skills in real-life contexts such as within industry, construction, finance, business, culinary arts or the medical field. What Should Students Learn for Today’s World?Mathematics and the ability to communicate its predictions are more important than ever for moving from low-paying jobs into better-paying ones. But what types of mathematics are important for students to learn in order to compete more effectively in the workplace? Students in the Florida GED PLUS program should exhibit competency in the areas of estimation and problem-solving, graphic literacy, geometry, and algebra. Estimation is often one of the harder skills for students to learn, even if they experience relatively little difficulty with other aspects of mathematics. Many students think of mathematics as a set of precise rules yielding exact answers. They are often uncomfortable with the idea of imprecise answers, especially when the degree of precision in the estimate depends on the context and is not itself given by a rule. It is important for students to be able to get an approximate sense of the size of an answer in order to check on the accuracy of a calculation. Graphics are also an integral part of the workforce. Charts, graphs, and diagrams provide necessary information for the completion of job-related tasks. Competent interpretation of graphs requires that students develop skills with both interpreting graphs and applying the information obtained to a specific task. Geometry plays a significant role in many different types of workplace and real-life situations. Students need to be able to apply such skills as area, perimeter, and volume, as well as triangle measurement. Although many students may think that algebra is only used in the classroom, algebraic thinking skills are necessary for all types of careers. One method to initiate the study of algebra is to have students learn methods to solve puzzles. Using brainteasers and puzzles as a daily mathematical “warm-up” assists students in becoming better problem solvers and helps them to identify different types of patterns and formulas that they can use to solve similar problems. Another technique for exploring algebra via tasks which come from the workplace is the use of the spreadsheet. Have students write a rule to combine the elements of certain cells to produce the quantity that goes into another cell. Although the variable names are cell names rather than x or y, setting up spreadsheet analyses requires algebraic thinking. Connecting such common tools as spreadsheets assists students in seeing the relevance of algebraic thinking. Concepts or Procedures?When teaching mathematics, it is easy to spend so much time and energy focusing on the procedures that little attention is paid to the concepts of math. When teaching higher-level mathematics or algebra, students are often taught the procedures for using a theorem or formula, but they do not learn how to apply that theorem or formula to diverse types of settings. Using workplace and everyday tasks for teaching mathematics provides students with diverse types of settings that are ever-changing. An example is the need to change a mathematical procedure in order to respond to the numerous yearly changes in the tax laws when completing an annual return. To prepare students to make modifications on their own, it is important to focus on concepts. Students may often first solve a problem through a trial and error approach and then develop a more consistent approach, such as the use of an algebraic formula. The thinking that goes into a student’s initial trials with new problems assists in building a conceptual understanding. Such an experiential approach is especially appropriate for teaching algebra, because too often it is seen by students as meaningless symbol manipulation. There is a growing emphasis in the workplace on communicating mathematical ideas to colleagues and clients. Communicating the results of a mathematical problem or analysis requires that students understand the “whys” of math so that they can be specific in their explanations rather than generalizing about how a task was completed. Teaching mathematics via workplace and everyday problems is an approach that can make mathematics more meaningful for all students. Strategy – Sample Lesson: Math in the WorkplaceHow much mathematics is used in various occupations? What kind and in what ways? Are there any implications for teaching or learning? Mathematics seems to hide itself in the workplace and special attention needs to be invested to find, identify, and describe workplace related mathematics. Time should be spent in the classroom helping students identify and describe workplace related mathematics so that they understand that the discrete skills of math are not practiced in isolation, but rather are intertwined like they are in real-life. Connecting to the workplace provides students with the opportunities to use mathematics to explain complex applications in the world outside of the classroom and to realize the interrelatedness of solving math challenges with solving work place challenges. Part I: Information from the Field Have volunteers from different careers visit the classroom and discuss how they use math in the workplace. Speakers should:
Part II: Careers and Mathematics Have students identify a career in which they are interested and have them prepare a short report on the career. Students should write a two-page, typed paper on that career emphasizing the types of mathematical skills required. Tell students to be specific. For example, if a student selects carpentry as a career, he/she should state that adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions, as well as figuring area and perimeter are integral parts of the daily functions of this career. Students should also include the high school, college, and vocational math courses that would need to be taken to be successful in the career. You may wish to have only one student write about each career so that a variety of careers are identified and discussed in class. Students may also be asked to add a third page showing the sources of information included and/or one interview with an individual in the selected career. As a follow-up, have students synthesize the information on careers and math and list the different types of mathematical skills necessary for the workplace. You may wish to have students demonstrate a typical mathematical problem encountered by a specific career. Examples are:
Connecting learning to the world of work helps students see how knowledge is applied and motivates them. To fulfill the needs of the workplace, as well as higher education, the mathematical curriculum for the Florida GED PLUS program should include geometry and measurement, probability and statistics, pre-algebra and algebra, patterns, relations, functions, and discrete mathematics. Directory: documents documents -> Concept stage documents -> Concept stage documents -> The great global switch-off documents -> Nonprofit grant application documents -> The Truth about the Rwandan Genocide documents -> Annual InStructional unit plan documents -> Chaos equipment included Download 1.65 Mb. Share with your friends:
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